The Regeneration of Taris
by jnoshima
Summary: Thousands of years after the bombardment of Taris by Darth Malek, the planet has, once again, been rebuilt and destroyed. Jedi Knight Korrian has been tasked with guiding and aiding a group in their attempts to work out if the planet can sustain life and then help to rebuild the planet


A/N: I'm setting this in a time long long after the established events of the SW universe, simply because I want this to be able to be canon without having everything predetermined. If you're looking for an action packed, Jedi/Sith battle filled fic, you've come to the wrong place. Whilst there will be some action in this, there won't be a lot. This is more about the reconstruction of a world and uncovering hidden mysteries of the past. The droids and technology are things I've made up. If they already exist within the SW universe, please tell me so I can make alterations. If enough people wish me to do so, I'll make a list on my profile or in a seperate place that explains in more detail what they do. I hope you enjoy :)

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The small convoy of ships came into orbit around Taris. A small Jedi star fighter, a cargo ship, a transport vessel and a small Republic gun ship continued into the lower atmosphere and headed towards the surface of the planet. It had been centuries since Taris had been sacked for the second time in it's long history.

Since the planet had been bombarded and turned to rubble by Darth Malak in search of Bastila Shan, the Republic had rebuilt the planet, and it had been through many regime changes over the millennia after. However, in an attempt to quell a rising Jedi rebellion and as a show of power in 240ABY, the High Sith Empire took the example of the ancient Darth Malak and bombarded the planet once again, turning the planet once again to rubble and scrap metal. After the First Bombardment of Taris and the regeneration of the planet, the leaders of the growing world turned to cleaner industries, fearing that pollution levels would once again get too high and the planet would begin to die again.

However, over the following millennia, as the scars of the old world of Taris faded, the fear faded with it. The rich who owned the factories turned to cheaper forms of industry, leading to higher profits. Factories used less clean forms of production and pollution began to rise again. In 200ABY, pollution levels were officially considered to be a major problem, but people weren't willing to spend money to make it go away, especially if it didn't affect them directly. Further problems began to arise amongst the people. With cheap production came lower wages for the workers. Crime and villainy began to rise from the depths of the cities. When the High Sith Empire took control of the galaxy in 239ABY, Taris was mostly ignored. The High Sith Empire conquered it with no difficulty and didn't need much to keep it guarded. No one was interested in the territory anymore.

It was thanks to the High Sith Empire's disinterest in the planet that a small band of Jedi were able to successfully hide on Taris, shielding themselves so the sith would not sense them, training to fuel an insurrection against the sith. Vast areas of the planet were abandoned and shut down, giving the Jedi plenty of room to train their skills in the force. Recruiting the force sensitive children over the months of being on the planet, the Jedi had amassed a fair size group, one that would be an asset to the rebellion. However, seeking out power, one of the force sensitive children betrayed the Jedi to the High Sith Empire. After weeks of searching, but still unable to get through the Jedi shields, and unable to find them amongst the transient communities, the High Sith Empire decided to bombard the planet. The bombardment achieved two things. It destroyed the growing Jedi and it put fear into the hearts of those considering rebellion. After all, it's harder to rebel when the people you're rebelling against will leave your planet a wasteland without a second thought.

And so the planet of Taris, once again, became a dead planet. Filled with toxic fumes and poisonous chemicals, the land became barren and any surviving life struggled to survive. It sat for centuries, silently changing as the galaxy progressed forward. The High Sith Empire fell to the rebellion, new orders and empires were formed and destroyed. All the while, nature slowly began to reclaim the world of Taris. The surviving life began to multiply, mutated by years of toxic exposure. It had happened before, after the First Bombardment of Taris, the wildlife adapted to the toxic environments. The life on the planet was surprisingly resilient.

The small republic convoy arrived at the planet in 1065ABY, nearly a millennium after the planet was bombarded. The Jedi star fighter was the first to approach the planet. Inside, Jedi Knight Korrian Negailen was anxious about his mission. The small convoy had been tasked with the job of creating a safe area on Taris where a resettlement could begin. The Republic had sent droids down to the planet to scan for life and to assess the atmostphere, and all had been clear for human life, but there was an abundance of wildlife and no one knew if they would be dangerous. So, the Jedi was to travel down first, scout the surface and find a safe place for the other ships to land.

Even without the small ship's scanners, Korrian could sense the abundance of life on the planet as he flew above the wreckage. It was a little disturbing for him, to be able to feel so much life on a planet that was a graveyard for an entire civilisation, though he was still glad that life had managed to survive. Looking out at the planet though, it looked grim. What could be seen of the soil and dirt on the surface was tainted with a pale green colour that wasn't because of grass. Destroyed metal structures of every kind spread out for as far as could be seen. Vines and trees and other plants grew all over the ancient metal, claiming it in the name of nature. The plants and trees, however, were twisted and oddly shaped. It seemed that the plant life had no escaped the mutations of the poisonous gasses and toxic chemicals that was spewed into the atmosphere and water. Korrian took note of some of the more distinctive structures, knowing he'd be asked to scout soon after the ships landed. He took special note of an extremely large warehouse that seemed to be mostly intact. The rest of the buildings were all reminiscent of the typical Taris design, the latest residents wanting to preserve the history. Great buildings that would once be curved, towering high into the sky, now lay, broken and collapsed. Towers with flat domes toppled over and lain to waste. Large walkways chopped up and turned to rubble, vague paths of where they used to stand. Every so often there would be other wreckage. Fallen transport vessles split open and charred. Large tubes that were cracked and hollow. The remnants of old droids, rusted and dead.

Eventually Korrian found a large, fairly flat, tower. He flew around, making a pass, to inspect the support structures that were keeping it up. Most of the metal below was twisted and charred, but it seemed to be holding well. The area below had obviously once been a large building, most of which was wreckage, and only the solid metal girders of the supports were holding it up anymore. Korrian flew over the top and slowly lowered his fighter down. As the ship gently pressed against the surface, the Jedi inside kept the thrusters engaged, making sure that, should the metal collapse, he'd be able to fly away again. When the metal didn't even groan, he slowly lowered lowered the engine until it was completely off. Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened the cockpit and climbed out of the little ship. The PT-8 Astromech droid who accompanied Korrian bleeped, wanting to be let out of the ship's hold.

"Settle down PT-8," Korrian laughed, patting the droid, "I'm just going to have a look at our surroundings, then I'll let you out."

PT-8 made a few low tone beeps, signalling that it understood but was still sad to be stuck in the ship. Korrian laughed again at his droid companion, then proceeded to walk away from the ship. His brown Jedi robes fluttered in the slight breeze. The metal structure was quite high, it was a fair drop to get down. Luckily, this meant that there were no animals up here. There were no sign of any flying creatures either, so it would probably be safe.

Korrian took a pair of KX-12 Macrobinoculars from his belt and scanned the area around the metal structure. Far below, on the surface, there was a band of 5 small creatures. They were black, walking on four legs and had a long tail. They seemed to be sniffing at the ground, as if they were tracking something. Korrian watched as they moved slowly across the ground, walking over metal and soil as if there were no difference between the two. Suddenly, one of the small creatures perked it's head up. It's mouth opened and it must've made a noise because the other 4 also perked their heads up. All 5 looked in one direction. Korrian followed their line of sight to see a large four legged beast lumbering around just ahead. As he was realising that the small creatures must be scared, one of them appeared as a flash beside the creature, landing on it and sinking its teeth into the beast's hide. Within seconds, the other four had done the same. The large beast roared so loudly that Korrian could hear it clearly. It swayed, thrashing it's large spiked tail and tried to rip the small creatures off with it's teeth. Before it could even get to them, it's eyes closed and it fell to the ground with a loud crash. It had only been 5 or 10 seconds but the beast was down. As the small creatures withdrew their teeth and began to eat, Korrian reached out with the force. The great beast was still alive, but in extreme pain. He stopped looking, unable to watch as the beast was slowly eaten by the small creatures. He walked back over to his ship and looked at his droid in sadness.

"I hope I never have to face any of those things," he said grimly.

PT-8 beeped low in response. It didn't know what the Jedi had seen, but knew it must've been bad.

"I'll contact the rest of the ships and let you out. This place is as safe as it's gunna get," Korrian said with a little smile.

The Jedi climbed back into the cockpit. He pressed a button on the console that released the magnaclips holding the astromech droid in place. The droid used it's little boosters to fly out of the ship and land on the metal platform. Korrian activated his holocom and an image of a soldier appeared before him.

"Follow my co-ordinates commander, I've found a safe landing platform, we can co-ordinate from there. It's high up so don't fly too low," Korrian explained.

"Yes, master Jedi," the commander replied.

The holocommunicator flickered off and Korrian rested his head back against the seat of his ship. He turned his head and looked out at the graveyard of civilisation that lay before him. He thought about the billions and billions of lives that had called this planet their home and how they had all been destroyed by orbiting Sith cruisers. He felt a pang of responsibility as he thought that the destruction of Taris might not have happened if it weren't for members of his order, even though it was centuries before. Then, Korrian remembered his mission. If his order had been the reason for Taris's destruction, at least he would be involved in helping to rebuild it. He also thought about the other reason he had been sent to Taris. The Brotherhood of the Jedi, the latest of the Jedi orders that have existed throughout the years, had tasked Korrian with searching for and locating any relics from the lost Jedi Order that was rising on Taris during its destruction.

Over the centuries, legends were formed around the Jedi Order. They were strong in the force, possibly stronger than any person before them. It was said that they were so strong in the force that they could control how other force users interpreted them and feel them. They could use the force to make themselves fade from people's perceptions. They could be seen, but no one realised they were there. They used the same principal with force users trying to find them. To anyone else, they were just random faces in the crowd. It was a shared ability amongst all the force users that were training to be Jedi. The legend says that this is the real reason the High Sith Empire bombarded the planet, because those Jedi would be too great a threat, such a threat that it justified killing billions of lives. If something existed on Taris that gave those Jedi that power, Korrian had to find it so it could be protected and studied.

After a minute or so, Korrian heard the familiar sound of thrusters, slowly getting louder. It was a ship heading in his direction. He looked turned his head in the direction of the noise and saw the small convoy approaching over the metal wreckage. Korrian climbed back out of his ship and stood with his hands behind his back, ready to greet them. The ships got closer. The gun ship was the first to land. It came down slowly, as the Jedi had done before, and then the side of the ship opened up. Nine soldiers in dark blue and white armour jogged out of the gunship and stood in a small contained group. A tenth soldier slowly walked out, his armour blue and white like the others, but with a distinctive silver stripe across the shoulder pads.

"Set up a perimeter," the tenth man barked the order. "I want eyes on all sides of this platform at all times. Watch the skies and the ground. Anything remotely dangerous comes near, report back immediately."

Within seconds, the other ships began to make their descent. One at a time the ships slowly lowered onto the platform, taking it easy. The structure was secure but they weren't taking any chances. The tenth soldier, who Korrian knew as Commander Rilen, walked over to the Jedi as the remaining ships touched down.

"Master Jedi," Rilen called to Korrian. "What's our next move?"

Korrian smiled to himself. He always found it amusing that the Republic army had to follow his orders.

"What would you recommend, Commander?" Korrian asked, wanting to hear Rilen's opinion.

"We need a more secure area, sir," Rilen answered. "We're safe from ground creatures, but we're still very exposed up here. We need somewhere defensible and undercover, especially when night comes."

"I couldn't agree more," Korrian said with smile. "I saw a warehouse a little way back. If we can breach the side, it would make a perfect place for us to take cover for the night."

"Yes, sir," Rilen replied.

"We'll take half the troops and the gunship," Korrian continued. "Take out any hostile animals from a distance and then I'll go in with the men and make sure it's completely safe. We'll take some defense droids and set up a safe zone inside so the ships can land."

"Understood," Rilen said.

With a salute, the Commander was off. He turned around and walked back to the gunship. Korrian turned to the rest of the ships as 4 soldiers came jogging back. The pilot of the cargo ship and the passengers on the transport ship were getting out and walking around, stretching their legs. There were 31 of them in total. Four mechanics, all to be used in maintaining and repairing systems and electronics they might find, as well as maintaining the droids they'd brough along. Five medics and four nurses, all brought because they needed to be prepared for animal attacks, poisoning and various other illnesses that might develop. Six were scientists; two geologists, a botanist, an animal biologist, an anthropologist and a meteorologist. Each of the scientists also had an assistant to help them run experiments and and tests. The scientists would be used to ascertain whether sustained civilisation could be achieved. The remaining six people were support staff; three cooks, two people to check and prepare all equipment and a final supervisor to keep the support staff in check. As well as these, there was a pilot for the transport ship. Other people, apart from the 31 staff, pilot and 10 soldiers, were 2 pilots for the cargo ship, a pilot and a soldier manning the long range communications on the gunship.

"Everyone," the Jedi called out to the small crowd. "Don't get too comfortable. We're safe here for now but we're relocating to a more secure area. We're taking the gunship and 5 of the soldiers, the rest will stay here. We'll signal you the all clear when we're done."

The people of the crowd didn't really react, more just nodding and mumblings of agreement. They weren't really expecting to be told exactly what was going to be happening, it was only that Korrian wanted to keep everyone in the loop. Happy that no one shouted their disagreement with the plan, Korrian walked back towards the gunship. The soldiers were on board and had all prepared their weapons, merely waiting for the action. Korrian stepped onto the ship and into the cockpit to guide the pilot. The ship took off with a little jump. It wasn't a very new ship and was in dire need of care, but it was sturdy and did it's job well regardless.

Korrian guided the ship back along the route he'd come from. The ship flew lower this time, but still above most of the wreckage. Korrian spotted the building that looked like a warehouse and pointed it out, before moving to the back of the ship.

"Alright, here's how it'll play out," Korrian began. "I'll jump down onto the roof and cut a hole and light up the inside. When I've done that, you'll all repel down into the warehouse with me and we'll clear out any life forms inside."

"Yes, sir," the soldiers said in unison.

"Be careful though," Korrian continued." The life on this planet has had centuries to mutate and evolve, there's no telling what will be down there and how difficult it will be to kill. Be especially careful of any small black things, I saw 5 of them take down a large beast earlier by doing nothing but biting."

"Yes, sir," the soldiers repeated.

The ship stopped moving and the doors on either side moved outward, with a hiss as the pressurised air inside was let out. The doors slid upwards, revealing the miles and miles of wreckage on the Taris surface. Korrian stood at the edge and looked down. It was only about a ten foot drop to the roof. He braced himself and stepped out.

Korrian fell rapidly. He reached out with the force, moulding it around him like a shield to prevent harm from the slight drop. The fall only lasted a few seconds, but he was down. He landed into a kneeling position, so that the force of the fall would be buffered. When on the roof, he stood slowly, looking around. He pulled the small silver hilt from his belt and pressed the button to activate the blade. A long blade of blue light shot out from the hilt with a hiss and a hum. Korrian put the blade straight to the floor and drove it in, the lightsaber easily cutting through the centuries old metal. Korrian walked slowly and carefully, the metal was old but it was thick, not as easy as other things are to cut through. He walked for about a minute, going in a fairly wide circle, far more than what was needed for the 6 men. When the circle was nearly complete, the metal made a slight groaning sound, the weight of it being too much for the little that was left holding it up. When the metal finally gave way, it fell quickly. However, when it landed, there was less of a clunk and more of a crunch. Korrian had a bad feeling about this. Before lighting the warehouse interior, he reached out with the force, detecting life within. He expected there to be a few animals inside, but nothing really that big. What he felt surprised and worried him. He activated a little droid and dropped it into the warehouse. The droid stopped about 6 feet from the ground and then turned into an extremely bright beacon that lit up the entire interior. Korrian, along with the soldiers on the gunship, heard the deafening cries of surprise come from inside the building. All 6 of them looked into the hole and saw hundreds, maybe even thousands, of creatures waiting inside.


End file.
